The thrill of watching people solve crimes for our entertainment never seems to go out of style. Anytime a TV executive wants to find the next big hit, expect them to craft a plot about cops, detectives, or even everyday people debunking the big questions. Crime dramas let fans live vicariously through the fictional characters without having to be involved in the stress of actual murder in the real world. Not many streamers have more crime dramas to indulge in this fantasy than Hulu.
The best crime shows on Hulu feature great characters, unique mysteries, and a ton of creativity. Hulu has also served as a fantastic hub for network shows and forgotten crime dramas from yesteryear. These shows are all on the more serious side of the genre, so if you’re wondering where Only Murders in the Building is on the list, you’re not going to find it. No comedy here, just drama. Time to dive into Hulu’s expansive crime drama library for an addicting, binge-worthy weekend of TV.
Recommended Videos
High Potential (2024)
1 Season
Genre
Drama, Crime
Stars
Kaitlin Olson, Daniel Sunjata, Javicia Leslie
Created by
Drew Goddard
Watch on Hulu
Kaitlin Olson (who I think is absolutely fantastic in Hacks) plays a cleaner at a police department who soon finds herself helping to solve the crimes herself after others discover her talents at work. The series does a great job of mixing the personal and professional lives of the characters. People who enjoy old-school crime dramas and those with a modern upgrade will enjoy the hybrid style High Potential uses to tell its story. The series is proof that ABC can still produce great dramas, and all of them are available to watch on Hulu.
Will Trent (2023)
3 Seasons
Genre
Crime, Drama, Comedy
Stars
Ramón Rodríguez, Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson
Created by
Daniel T. Thomsen, Liz Heldens, Karin Slaughter
Watch on Hulu
Will Trent is your standard crime drama fare but with a nice twist on the protagonist. Trent is a detective with a moral compass, someone who was passed on as a child and never knew what love was while growing up in a foster home. He wants to make a difference in the world, and his motivations allow him to solve crimes others may forget about or decide they’re not interested in. The strengths of Will Trent are in understanding the crime genre and tweaking just enough to make it stand out from the crowd.
Accused (2023)
Accused is an anthology series so the crimes and the people on trial for the crimes change with each episode. The mysteries unfold in backward chronological order, making the audience see the criminals at their lowest point when they are on trial and then going back to the beginning of their stories. Many of the people who are accused of crimes aren’t psychotic or serial killers, but rather normal folks who get caught up in things they shouldn’t have.
The Mentalist (2008)
7 Seasons
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Stars
Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang
Created by
Bruno Heller
Watch on Hulu
The Mentalist is part of what I like to call the “psuedo-superhero detective” genre. I know, pretty great, right? The protagonist possesses an almost supernatural ability to observe human behavior, and it allows him to solve crimes other people can’t, hence the nickname that bears the title of the series. The Mentalist is one of the more famous shows about a detective who uses extreme intelligence or similar means to get to the bottom of things without actually diving into the fantasy or superhero genres. High Potential, mentioned earlier on this list, is another example of this sub-genre of detective shows.
Murder in a Small Town (2024)
1 Season
Genre
Drama, Crime
Stars
Rossif Sutherland, Kristin Kreuk, Mya Lowe
Created by
Ian Weir
Watch on Hulu
Murder in a Small Town follows a policeman who wants to get away from the crime of the big city only to find out that tiny town murder and mystery is even more confusing and stressful. Fans of Ozark will enjoy the atmosphere and parallels in aesthetics. Great performances by Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk have made this one of the best new shows in the last year.
Elementary (2012)
7 Seasons
Genre
Drama, Mystery, Crime
Stars
Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Jon Michael Hill
Created by
Robert Doherty
Watch on Hulu
Elementary is perhaps the best modern update to the Sherlock Holmes universe, a story that has been ongoing for over a century going back to the novels. Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu transform Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson into fresh, fascinating crime solvers that will make even a person most bored with this universe want to take another look at it. Seven seasons and 154 episodes of TV make this a great crime series to get lost in for months.
Big Sky (2020)
3 Seasons
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Stars
Katheryn Winnick, Kylie Bunbury, Dedee Pfeiffer
Created by
David E. Kelley
Watch on Hulu
Big Sky starts small with Katheryn Winnick and Kylie Bunbury playing murder investigators in Montana. The series expands as the crimes grow in scale, and more fantastic actors have been added to the cast, such as Jensen Ackles, Reba McEntire, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler from The Sopranos. Unfortunately, this one got canceled after only three seasons. On the bright side, this makes the series a quick 47-episode binge that can be finished in a couple of weeks.
Bones (2005)
12 Seasons
Genre
Crime, Drama
Stars
Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, John Boyd
Created by
Hart Hanson
Watch on Hulu
Bones is the type of crime show you might have noticed when waiting for another show to come on or in snydication late at night that you used for background noise while going to sleep (NBA fans know all about this as we waited for our favorite team to come on TNT and we watched the last five minutes of a random episode of this series to end.) Give it a try and you find out that there’s a lot of meat on the bone to get addicted to (pun intended). The show follows two investigators with wildly different personal and professional views as they try to piece the murder puzzles together each week based on the remains they find.
